Smith Anderson is a Raleigh-based business and litigation firm known for its team of trial-tested lawyers. Recipient of the North Carolina Firm of the Year award at the annual Benchmark US awards ceremony for several consecutive years (including once again in 2024), the firm continues to impress local peers and clients, with some partners even hailed by top trial lawyers at white-shoe New York firms who have worked with them. “They were wonderful North Carolina counsel. They played a big role at trial examining witnesses, they were very useful in that regard.” The firm has made a decision to pursue an agenda of staying “strategically neutral” regarding choosing political sides, something noted as being “very smart but very unusual in North Carolina,” and is active in a range of matters from large multi-party, multi-jurisdiction litigation for companies of all sizes to matters for small private businesses and
pro bono clients. Smith Anderson has also emphasized intellectual property as a growth area as of late, particularly in situations where this intersects with commercial litigation.
In one example of a case involving a crossover of commercial and IP,
Christopher Smith represented BETA, a developer of novel electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and charging infrastructure, in a contract dispute with a former supplier that also included claims for wrongful disclosure of confidential information and trade secrets as well as various business torts. Smith and his team obtained an early restraining order and preliminary injunction to recover data that the plaintiff was wrongfully withholding from BETA, as well as a declaratory judgment in BETA’s favor on certain IP rights. The matter was settled in November 2023, with no payment made to the plaintiff.
Mitchell Armbruster represented Mood Product in a case brought in February 2024 in which plaintiffs claim wrongful termination of a hemp-product distribution contract. The plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction restraining the client from the use of the plaintiff’s trade secrets and certain product testing information.
Michael Mitchell represents local agricultural pillar Smithfield, who, with its affiliated company Murphy-Brown (also being defended by Mitchell), is one of the largest pork producers in the US. Over the last several years, numerous local property owners have sued Smithfield and Murphy-Brown claiming that the smell, noise, trucks and dust coming from the hog farm operations have created a nuisance. Some of these cases went to trial in federal court in North Carolina resulting in some large jury awards. The legal costs and jury awards exceed $100 million. Smithfield and Murphy-Brown sought insurance coverage for the nuisance litigation, but the insurers denied coverage. Smithfield and Murphy-Brown then brought this lawsuit in the North Carolina Business Court to enforce their insurance policies against the insurers.
